Temptress Moon (1996) User Reviews

Full moon

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 26 April 2006]

Opium is at the center of this story. It shows what it does to the Pang family when the elder son of the clan immerses himself in it. Pang An, a snobbish man, brings Zhongliang, the young brother of Yu Xiuye to the compound to tend to his vice. Ruyi, who is first seen as a young girl, playing with her cousin Duanwu, likes him until Zhongliang falls out of favor and flees to Shanghai.

Zhongliang's life in Shanghai goes through a transformation as he becomes part of a gang that extort money from wealthy women who fall in love with members of the gang, who then proceed to extort money from them to keep things quiet.

When the old man of the Pang family dies, Pang An is too far gone into his opium to rule. In a surprise movement, Ruyi is made head of the family and she has Duangwu serve as her adviser. The boss of the gang in Shanghai learning about it decides to send Zhongliang to lure Ruyi to their turf. Fate intervenes as Zhongliang falls madly in love with the ravishing Ruyi, who in turn, will discover what the young man was really after and who is instrumental for Ruyi's fall at the end.

The film relies on the visual aspects Chen Kaige has brought to the story. This is one of the most daring Chinese films as far as the sexual context that is seen on the screen. Never before has the Chinese cinema shown scenes that burn the screen as when Zhongliang and Ruyi make love.

Chen Kaige is a director with a style of his own. He co-wrote the screen play in which this film is based. The action takes place during the first part of the 20th Century in China before the period that changed that country into what it is today.

The best asset in the film is the way Chen Kaige sets his story in motion. He surrounds his tale with some of the most dazzling sets in recent memory and the reconstruction of the night life and the criminal around Shanghai in that period is effectively captured in the excellent cinematography by Christopher Doyle. The atmospheric music heard in the background is by Jiping Zhao.

The gorgeous Gong Li plays the adult Ruyi and the late Leslie Cheung is Zhonliang. Kevin Liu is seen as Duanwu and Caifei He is Xiuye. The supporting cast add a note of authenticity to the film.

This is one of Chen Kaige best achievements as a director.

An opium ride!

[AThames · 8/10 · 24 July 2013]

This was an interesting movie.

This is a tale of tragic romance, where the male character is an emotional wreck (due to him being a slave for his sister and her husband, who also forces him to have a little experience with incest), and the female character is living her day in an opium cloud.

The acting from the main actors is top notch, namely Leslie Cheung and Li Gong, who always seem to deliver in every movie I have seen them in (Li Gong struggles a bit in her English speaking roles, and it does take something away from her performance in those movies, I must admit). Li Gong usually plays an intelligent character, but here she is an opium addict, so it is definitely different seeing her looking all confused and dumbfounded all the time.

The cinematography was spectacular, as it usually is when Christopher Doyle is in charge. The lighting and camera angles reminded me a little of David Lynch, and I believe it was done this way in order for you to see the world like you had smoked opium, just like the characters. You should see the movie for the acting, cinematography and camera work alone.

The main critique of the movie seems to be that it is very hard to follow the plot and figure out who is who. I agree with this. It gets established 40 min or so into the movie, but you could be tempted to turn off the movie before that because it is so confusing. But once it gets established who is who, and what they want, the plot becomes a lot better, and I became very involved in the movie.

Fascinating

[ruthgee · 7/10 · 27 November 2000]

I watched this movie on the T.V. and I think if I had seen it in a theatre I would have rated it higher than 7. It is a fascinating story, beautifully told. The atmosphere created was wonderful. The story is tragic. The early childhood of Zhongliang was horrifying, as was the life led by the Pang family,addicted to opium; the cruelty shown him by his sister and brother-in-law truly shaped Zhongliang's character. Part of the movie is set in Shanghai in about the 1920's seemed real. It is a sad tale of corruption and cruelty.

Dark, Seedy, Suspenseful

[siouxsie43 · 6/10 · 20 October 2001]

This is a depressing, sad, dark, seedy, suspenseful movie full of intrigue, cunning, and deceit. It is a fine work of cinema in the dramatic sense. But, I did not find it to be as sensual as its billing had led me to believe. I expected a more erotic, sensual overtone to some of the story and/or the scenes. But, instead it was a tale laced with opium, betrayal, and desperation in a world that was changing from the old ways of ancient China to the newer ways of the West. I can see why it would have caused such controversy in China in the first place, as the box proclaims. But, I think that words like, "Sensuous," "Steamy," and "Ravishing," were over-used. It was a good story not for the tame of heart or mind. There are many quiet parts of the movie where there is little action and few words. It works well if you have the mindset to pay attention patiently. I think that a film like this will appeal to select audiences and I would be a little weary to recommend it to everyone. I think some people will like this film, others absolutely love it, while others yet may be bored with the slow-moving action and dark dialogues.

The Plot as Strong as The Image

[zhiminhu · 10/10 · 12 December 2003]

The images are very impressed. The color, the shadow, the depth of field and the framing are excellent. Every individual image is a great picture! Specially in the scene of presenting Ruyi as the master of the family, the soft lens makes Ruyi's white clothes flared, so that it emphasizes her special position in the family as well as her angel image.

We often see the sexual victim as woman. As contrary, this movie describes a male victim from the sex abuse of his sister and his brother-in-law. The tragedy goes deeper when this victim destroys the others and himself.

In summary, this movie is on my collection list.

Sex, Lies, and Silk Screens

[dragon-90 · 9/10 · 6 July 2000]

Another exorcism by Chinese master Chen Kaige (who directed "Farewell My Concubine" three years earlier), of China's disastrous meltdown in the early 20th Century. An old landed family sinks into decadence as the Qing dynasty collapses and the chaotic early years of a Chinese republic swirl around their ghostly ancestral hall and mansion gardens.

Into this scene returns an extended-family member, Zhongliang (played by Hong Kong star Leslie Cheung), ostensibly to position himself for his Shanghai gang's takeover of the estates. But Zhongliang's return home awakens old wounds and rips open all new ones in a family reeling from generations of drug use and the collapse of an ancient civilization.

Cousins, brothers-in-law, sisters, then become embroiled in a sick game of love, lust, and revenge. This is a very sobering film yet hauntingly beautiful at times. All performances, from a radiant Gong Li, down to the smallest roles, are superb. The character development is profound, the story compelling, and the production values are stunning. A first rate movie.

A not so good Chinese domestic drama

[smallchief · 4/10 · 14 November 2001]

What you can say about this movie is that it was not directed by Zhang Yimou who did (if I'm not mistaken) Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou which were excellent movies. This is similar -- but inferior -- to Zhang's work. Gong Li, the lead actress, is less sensual than usual, the story is convoluted and complicated, the ending is exactly like that of every other movie I've seen in which Gong Li is the lead, and the story strains credibility.

The lead male character, Zhong, is sort of a Chinese Tom Cruise. The women all love him, despite the fact that he's a louse. He suffers horribly because they suffer because of their love for him. Nobody suffers as much as Gong Li. Tragic ending predictable. The photography was good. That's about all.

A subtle, contrapuntal masterpiece on circumstance, belief, and the undermining of the human heart

[YakSmurf · 10/10 · 14 January 1999]

When I rented this after reading the pitiful, typically over-sensualized box, I hoped only that it might struggle above tepid mediocrity in some way. In fact, I saw it and despised Leslie Cheung's petty Songlian and his sister Caifei He for the first hour.

Yet then I began to realize how intricately woven the characters and plot were as visual symbols began reappearing, and the movie began to happily shirk off introductory pretenses and reveal the forces behind the characters and their actions. Songlian's pettiness began to reveal itself as an intense and justifiable self-hatred, and that of his sister as terrible hopelessness. Meanwhile the others in the movie undergo powerful transformations as well, as we see how people struggle to bring their own beliefs to bear beneath the tidal wave of external circumstances. We see how they fail, and how their failure propogates their weaknesses, undermining others.

Overall we see the power of the subversive as it plays on the human mind and heart. We see beliefs destroyed at several levels, we see new beliefs emerge, less pure and more calculating. We see regret unfold in each of the characters, or worse, cold numbness to it from enduring too much.

And there is nothing to regret about the movie, except that the subterranean depths of the content make recommendation difficult (this is not a movie for most grandmothers, even though it is still delicate in how it examines its touchier subject matter). Still, it is beautiful in everything it does. The sights, the characters, the transformations, even the twistiness. We rever the characters and their changes, for good or worse because we understand them irrevokably. The movie is highly rich and interwoven. Elements interplay even down to recurring symbols, and by the end we realize that the entire movie is really symbolized in the first ten minutes, even though there is no way we could realize that from the beginning even if told so. Those ten minutes where we see the beautiful Pang estate, and the children, and life so revoltingly innocent at first glance. That is purposeful. What we take for inconsequential initially is proved to be far from it, and really that contrapuntal layering of pretended motive and deeper meaning continues throughout.

Every minute in this movie counts. Every side glance reflects meaning. "The Piano" was supposed to be subversive, sensual, touching and powerful, showcasing how the heart must contend with external harshness. However, it is clumsy, ugly, blatant, and ineffectual in comparison to "Temptress Moon" which tells so much more with so much less, and it breaks our heart unspeakably, but is above the painful, selfish bitterness or wallowing found in "Farewell My Concubine", "Raise the Red Lantern", and "Indochine" which really tell stories half as complex (maybe not Indochine). The characters in Temptress Moon are noble, despite and because of their outer twistedness and rent hearts.

A sumptuous earring, a swinging lamp, fresh roses, Songlian's longings for Peking, and twisting opium smoke and speeches on its merits and cruelties-- all these symbols snake by at first, yet come to how powerful meaning in the end, and they strike us at many levels in the movie, each time richer with understanding. I left far surprised and impressed. Finally, a movie great enough to express itself in humility of pretenses. If only they'd ditch the stupid and coarsely sensual box.

Where is the temptation?

[Curious-from south · 4/10 · 6 May 2003]

I rented this movie because it sounded sexy and hot. It was ..mmmm... well made period drama WITH NO SKIN!!! Now the depiction of love and longing and the moral struggle was nicely (albeit slowly) depicted, lack of sex on screen made it very...lame.

Sensual film about a love triangle and social change in early 20th century China.

[senortuffy · 9/10 · 21 December 2003]

This was a fabulous movie, instantly making it onto my list of favorites. There was so much going on between the three main characters along with the background of China emerging as a modern nation. The tragic ending brought real tears to my eyes.

The story revolves around the household of the Pang family, a very wealthy and traditional clan that lives in the countryside and has remained untouched by the rise of modern society in Shanghai during the 1920's.

*** SPOILERS ***

Yu Xiuyi is married to the son of the clan elder, Pang An, a cruel opium addict. One day, she sends for her much younger brother, Yu Zhongliang (Leslie Cheung), to come live on the Pang estate and tend to her husband's opium needs while he completes his studies. His playmates become his sister-in-law, Pang Ruyi (Li Gong), and her cousin, Pang Duanwu (Kevin Lin).

Zhongliang is turned into a servant and humiliated by his master and his sister. He leaves for Shanghai and hooks up with a crime family there. He seduces married women and the gang extorts money from their husbands. He's a playboy without a heart.

Back at the Pang estate, An suffers some sort of brain damage from his opium use, so when the elder dies, his younger sister, Ruyi, is chosen to rule the clan. She chooses her cousin, Duanwu, to act as her counselor, much to the chagrin of the clan elders who see both of them as inexperienced and not traditional enough.

Zhongliang's boss sends him back to the Pang estate to seduce Ruyi so that they can extort money from the clan, but when he returns, he soon falls in love with her. Complicating matters, Duanwu, the ever loyal cousin, also is in love with Ruyi.

Zhongliang is torn between loyalty to his crime boss, who has become a father figure to him, and his newfound emotions toward Ruyi. Ruyi had despaired of never finding a suitable husband - the marriage arranged for her years ago had been broken when the family found out she was an opium addict like her older brother. The love she and Zhongliang find for each other is liberating for each.

Zhongliang begins to feel guilty - members of his gang are pressuring him to set up the extortion. He came back to the Pang estate to exact revenge for what An and his sister did to him years ago, but he's in love with Ruyi and can't go through with his plan. So he leaves and returns to Shanghai, where his understanding boss lets him off the hook, sort of.

He is ordered to go through with the extortion of a married women he's been having an affair with, a woman he really loves. The gang boss sends for Ruyi so that she can witness Zhongliang's seduction and betrayal of this woman, hoping this will ruin the love between the two and return Zhongliang to his former cynical self. But the woman kills herself in despair and Zhongliang is destroyed by his guilt.

Ruyi returns to the country and is met at her estate by the man whose family spurned their betrothal years ago. He is now a modern, self-sufficient businessman in Shanghai, and after the two get along well, they both decide to get married - he's transitioned to modern life and doesn't care anymore what his family thinks of Ruyi.

But Zhongliang returns. Ruyi had thrown herself at him in Shanghai despite finding out what he was really like, and he had been afraid to tell her how he felt, but now he wants to reclaim her. Ruyi tells him she no longer loves him.

Zhongliang's sister, jealous and bitter about her isolation and reduction to second class status within the clan, nags him into putting arsenic into Ruyi's opium, something he did years ago to An as part of his revenge. Too late, he regrets his actions and tries to stop her from smoking the poison. She's rendered a vegetable just like her older brother was.

As Zhongliang's about to return to Shanghai in deep sorrow, Duanwu guns him down on the pier. And Duanwu, no longer meek and subservient but cruel and decisive, now becomes the head of the clan while Ruyi is carried comatose into the ancestral hall to witness the ceremony.

*********

The story is terrific and the acting superb. I've seen several of Li Gong's films and this is her best part of all. She portrays innocence and betrayal with great beauty and skill. Leslie Cheung is also terrific in the role of Zhongliang, really the main figure in the film. His character has such depth and complexity, and the actor does a great job of letting the viewer see the pathos within him as he's torn between revenge and love.

The cinematography is spectacular. The scenes in the countryside surrounding events in the Pang estate are filmed with a fuzzy aura to them, almost putting events into a dreamlike state. Shanghai, on the other hand, is shot cleanly with defined edges. Christopher Doyle, an Australian, also did the cinematography on several other Chinese films as well as recent entries like "Rabbit-Proof Fence" and "The Quiet American"", another film with stunning visuals.

For English speaking cinema fans, don't let the subtitles intimidate you. This is a great film, a beautiful film about a tragic love story, and one you really should see.

This film should get best rate because its criticism of the society

[zzmale · 10/10 · 24 November 2003]

Not only the society in China decades ago, but also the current Chinese society. Again, like the movie Farewell My Concubine also directed by Mr. Kaige Chen, this film is also a work of contemporary criticism told in the form of a story happened decades ago.

Unlike the story of Farewell My Concubine (Ba Wang Bie Ji), what reflected in this film is far too close to home: what happened more than half a century ago is happening again in China and the director was more direct in criticizing the decadence in this film.

Dreadful muddle

[graycat-1 · 5/10 · 24 September 2002]

This film reassembles the director and stars of Farewell My Concubine. Unfortunately, Kaige Chen over estimates his abilities as a screen writer. Farewell was base on a novel by Lillian Lee; Kaige Chen, Kei Shu, and Anyi Wang provide little of the historical sweep of the earlier film for Temptress. BTW, the Temptress of the title is not played by Li Gong, but Leslie Cheung, which should give some idea of how wrong-headed this production is.

Definitely worth pining for!

[cerasea · 10/10 · 30 January 2006]

I decided to purchase Temptress Moon after viewing the breathtaking, and devastating, Farewell My Concubine. Both movies feature the amazing talents of Gong Li and Leslie Cheung. So total is their transformation between the two films, it's difficult to believe that these are the same actors.

While Concubine served as a historical epic, Temptress Moon seemed more along the lines of Shakespearean tragedy. Like Kaige's previous work, the characters' frustrations signify larger themes: domestic turmoil; gender repression; class conflict; etc. Although these themes concern the private sphere of life and are not as overtly political as those addressed in Concubine, they are just as much about power, its abuse and the resulting disfigurement of the human spirit.

Temptress Moon is by no means a romance. The movie succeeds in being lyrical and melancholy - more engrossing than entertaining. Despite the requisite tragic ending, I found the plot to be oddly satisfying! The waxing and waning fates of Zhongliang, Ruyi, and Duanwu intertwined to create a luminous study of the heart and its insatiable hunger.

Overall, Temptress Moon was a clear reflection of the obsessions that ruthlessly dictate interpersonal affairs. Leslie Cheung, Gong Li and Kevin Lin give mesmerizing performances while supporting portrayals like that of Caifei He as Zhongliang's sister and Yin Tse as Zhongliang's Boss are equally flawless. (Among the movie's many moral messages: "Don't Do Drugs!" :)

An outstanding film of China in the early Republican period.

[cinescot · 10/10 · 18 February 1999]

Few film makers capture this history of China from a Chinese production company, unless it is a propaganda piece. Excellent acting by the beautiful and fabulous Gong-Li and Leslie Cheung.

Gong Li as Ruyi, falls into the rare, but possible, role of head of the Pang Family, a somewhat traditional family in Shanghai, China; after her older brother falls into opium addiction and her father dies.

As a family head, she is almost in the status of a ruling house, and requires a marriage; confidential advisors; and love. By reason of her birth, she is also sheltered froom the world.

Still banned, at this writing, from circulation in China; this beautiful story photographed in a nearby Shanghai location; with actual ancestral hall and mansion with garden; transcends the dynasty (as it begins in 1911-12) through two decades of the new Republic. Cheung is a Capo or Dai-Lo of a Shanghai Triad after growing up in the Pang household. Gong-Li lives with the duty a death has given her, after "elders approval" and must cope with her childhood friend & cousin as a lover and trusted adviser; while being courted by the returned from Shanghai Cheung; with whom she falls in love.

A very impressive movie with great story.

[Buggy-2 · 10/10 · 6 November 1998]

Such a good movie with great plot and impressive visuality. Each shot is like a photograph and very beautiful, too. Story of Chinese traditions and a fervid love triangle. This is a movie of strong characters against tradition and each other and love. Gong Li and Leslie Cheung are among my favorite actors and actresses and they become a magical couple in the same movie. A must see...

As dysfunctional a family as you will find anywhere.

[emuir-1 · 7 June 2003]

As the story unfolded I began to feel that it had been cribbed from a Russian novel. A set of unlikeable codependent characters feeding on each other's misery. The dark tale of a once powerful family's decadent descent into impotent obscurity serves as an allegory for the Ching dynasty. I only wish that there had been more character development, the minor family member Duanyu, who ended as the head of the family - what was his motivation for his betrayal of Ruyi?

The photography is sumptious, and the performances beyond reproach. The films moves slowly and requires the audience to pay attention, but for those who like a dark tale of pending doom and destruction it is worth it.